County transferring ‘eyesore’ tank property to Oak Ridge

Anderson County Commission will transfer property to the city of Oak Ridge for a water tank, although one commissioner predicted “it’s going to be the biggest eyesore in Oak Ridge.”

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By Donna Smith

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By Donna Smith

Posted Oct. 1, 2013 at 5:22 PM

By Donna Smith

Posted Oct. 1, 2013 at 5:22 PM

Clinton, Tenn.

Anderson County Commission will transfer property to the city of Oak Ridge for a water tank, although one commissioner predicted “it’s going to be the biggest eyesore in Oak Ridge.”

During a recent Commission meeting, Commissioner Jerry White of Clinton said in his opinion the equalization tank doesn’t need to be located next to the former Daniel Arthur building on Emory Valley Road. He said he’d like to see it located elsewhere or sunk in the ground. He pointed out that he does a lot of work in Oak Ridge as part of his pest control business.

Commissioner Robin Biloski of Oak Ridge said she agreed with White, but she had resigned herself to the fact that it needs to be done and she wants the tank to be made as attractive as possible.

Commissioner Jerry Creasey said he and Commissioner Harry “Whitey” Hitchcock had walked the property the county owns between the building and the Roane State expansion now under construction. He cited creeks and other features of the land that point to the city staff-proposed site being the best location on the property to locate the tank.

He said he was happy with the redesign and relocation the city staff had made since its original proposal was submitted to Commission.

The tank will be located farther away from the originally proposed location on the east end of the Daniel Arthur building, allowing for more of the parking lot to be saved. It will be a two million-gallon tank that is 27 feet high and 125 feet in diameter with a domed top.

The tank will cost $810,000.

Commission voted in favor of transferring the property and told County Law Director Jay Yeager to draft the property transfer deed.

Oak Ridge Public Works Director Gary Cinder said he had investigated, on behalf of an Oak Ridge City Council member, how much it would cost to sink the tank into the ground. He said the rock at the site would basically cause sinking the tank to become a “mining operation” and would cost an additional $53,000 a foot.

The Emory Valley Road tank or equalization bank is one of three the city must install as part of the multimillion-dollar sewer rehabilitation project ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The tanks will be made of pre-stressed concrete with two of the tanks being 22 feet high and the other 27 feet high.

The EPA’s order calls for the city to stop sanitary sewer overflows by September 2015; and, according to Cinder, a component for eliminating this is the construction of three equalization basins.

Another tank will be located on the site of the city’s former east sewer treatment plant and current location for the east plant pumping station, which is off Cairo Road. The third tank will be located on Illinois Avenue at the site of Terry Mullins’ car wash, if the city is able to purchase the property from the owner.

Page 2 of 2 - Oak Ridge City Council approved the three tank locations earlier this month.